British serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe, who is infamous as the 'Yorkshire Ripper' was born under fairly normal surroundings. His father John Sutcliffe was a mill owner. Peter was very attached to his mother Kathleen. He was a loner in school and his grades were generally poor. Peter quit school at 15. He loved to visit the local wax museum where he was fascinated by specimens that showed the effect of venereal disease on the body. He worked as a municipal gravedigger and mortuary assistant for a while. During this period he was known to steal things from the bodies he was burying. Some of his early tendencies towards necrophilia may have stemmed from here. He would later tell authorities that it was during this time that he started hearing the voice of God coming from a grave telling him to 'rid the world of harlots'. He attempted his first murder in 1969 with a home made weapon - a sock filled with bricks. On 2 occasions his victims escaped. On Oct 30, 1975 however he had perfected his m.o. He used a ball peen hammer to bludgeon his victim to death. Then he stabbed them with a chisel or screwdriver to mutilate their bodies. He killed mainly in the cities of Leeds, Bradford and in the Yorkshire area and 1 murder in the Lancashire city of Manchester.His victims were all women. Though the majority were prostitutes, he also began killing college students towards the end - the only common factor being they were lone women who were out late. The age range of his victims was 16 to 47. One of his victims was even killed in her own apartment. In one case Sutcliffe actually revisited the crime scene a week later to further mutilate the body before it was finally found by the police. Sutcliffe was a schizoid personality who was able to remain a devoted husband at home while still committing his brutal crimes outside. When Sutcliffe's mother died on November 8, 1978 there was an 11 month 'cooling-off' period. The largest manhunt in Britsh history was launched to catch the 'Ripper'. It involved interviewing 250,000 people and searching 20,000 houses. In June 1979 the police were sidetracked when they received a hoax tape and letters from someone claiming to be the ripper. Sutcliffe who was interviewed was dismissed as a suspect because he did not have the 'Wearside accent' of the hoax tape. The last 'Ripper' murder took place on 17 Nov 1980. There had been 13 victims with 7 attempted murders. On January 2, 1981 Sutcliffe was arrested by the police for displaying false number plates on his Rover car. (The number plates actually belonged to a Skoda.) Peter Sutcliffe had stolen the plates from a scrapyard in nearby Dewsbury. on his Rover P6 and propositioning a prostitute. He requested permission to 'pee' before going to the station. The next day, while he was being questioned at the station, the arresting policeman decided to go and check the bushes where Sutcliffe had urinated. He found a hammer and chisel behind some shrubbery. Sutcliffe quickly confessed to his crimes. he said he harbored a vendetta against prostitutes after one of them had swindled him of money and given him a venereal disease. On May 22, 1981 he was declared guilty of committing 13 murders and sentenced to spend not less than 30 yrs in prison.

• published: 07 Oct 2017
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